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List of scientific errors
Despite being a documentary series, several paleontological inaccuracies appear throughout some of the shows. ''Walking with Dinosaurs New Blood *Coelophysis'' probably didn't feed on Placerias. *''Coelophysis'' had sexual dimorphism, unlike the ones in the show who where all the same. *There is no conclusive evidence that Coelophysis was cannibalistic. *''Placerias'' where probably not hippo-like. *''Postosuchus'' may have been bipedal. *Archosaurs generally don't mark territory's with urine, unlike the male Postosuchus ''in the show. *It is impossible for obligate carnivores, like ''Postosuchus and Coelophysis to produce green colors, unlike their color schemes in the show. *''Thrinaxodon'' was from the early Triassic, not the late. Also there is unrecognized non-mamamlian cynodont material from the petrified woods. *''Plateosaurus'' couldn't go in to a quadruple stance. ''Time of the Titans *Ornitholestes'' didn't have a nasal crest. *''Ornitholestes'' almost certainly had feathers. *''Diplodocus'' held its' neck in a slightly higher position then shown in the series. *There is no evidence for such an egg laying structure in Diplodocus. ''Cruel Sea *Liopleurodon'' wasn't even half the size shown in the show. It wasn't 25m long and 150t, but more like 6-10m and 5-8t, the size of an orca. There was evidence of pliosaur bite marks that indicate 25m, but it's unlikely that the attacker was a Liopleurodon. *There is no evidence that Ophthalmosaurus migrated towards coasts to give birth. *''Cryptoclidus'' couldn't go on land. *''Rhamphorhynchus'' lacks many skeletal features required for a skim feeder. *Slightly off shape of the lower jaw (Rhamphorhynchus.). ''Giant of the Skies *The giant pterosaur is actually ''Tropeognathus, not Ornithocheirus. *''Tropeognathus'' had a wingspan of only 7-8m (27ft) max. *There is no evidence that Tropeognathus traveled the globe. *Tapajarids where herbivores/frugivores. *The “''Tapejara''” might actually be a species of Tupandactylus, or its' own genus. *Sexual dimorphism isn't documented in Tapajarids. *The walking pose of the all the pterosaurs are far off. *The N. American “''Iguanodon''” is now known as Dakotadon. *The European form is probably based on material now referred to Barrillium. *''Barrillium's thumb claw wasn't that big. *Utahraptor'' wasn't found in Europe. *''Utahraptor'' did have feathers running head to toe to tail; only the tip of the snout was visible. It even had wings. Additionally, it was impossible for the hands to be pronated without being broken. They held them at the side. The same errors are for Velociraptor (see below). *A paper is being written that will cause many more errors for the WWD raptor. *''Polacanthus'' isn't known from N. America, only Europe. ''Spirits of the Ice Forest *Leaellynasaura'' had a tail three times it's body length. *There is no evidence that Leaellynasaura could go into a form of hibernation. *''Muttaburrasaurus'' was less hadrosaur like then shown in the show, it was a rhabdodontid. *There is no evidence Muttaburrasaurus where migratory. *It's unlikely that Australovenator was an allosaurid. ''Death of a Dynasty *Dromaeosaurus'' has the same mistakes as Velociraptor and Utahraptor as well as 2 additional ones. The head is too blocky and stout and they died out 72,000,000 BCE, not 66,036,000 BCE (the show says it's 65,500,000 BCE). *''Torosaurus'' and Triceratops may have been omnivores. *''Torosaurus'' might not have lived in herds. *Many aspects of T. rex mating behaviour in the show where speculation. *In Walking With Dinosaurs, T. rex has been depicted as a solitary creature. However, Phil Currie has found some evidence supporting that tyrannosaurids hunted in packs. *Tyrannosaurs are depicted featherless. In reality, they probably had feathers...especially the chicks. The evidence of adults being feathered isn't as solid as the chicks. *Walking With Dinosaurs has a few mild inaccuracies: T. rex's hands should be facing inwards, not downwards. The rear teeth, legs, and tail also seem a little shorter. T. rex ''is depicted as being 5 tonnes, but specimens 8-10 tonnes are not uncommon. But [http://walkingwith.wikia.com/wiki/The_Complete_Guide_To_Prehistoric_Life ''The Complete Guide To Prehistoric Life] seems to have corrected these mistakes. *''T. rex'' is now known to have extremely powerful muscles in its neck and jaws; combined with its teeth that made its bite deadly. *Evidence that female rexes were bigger than males isn't solid anymore. *The head is just very slightly too blocky (T. rex). *"Anatotitan" is now known as Edmontosaurus annectens. *We now know that the eyes of smaller ornithopods are pronounced in a way that makes them look angry. This feature is also seen in eagles and angry cartoons. *There are multiple inaccuracies for Quetzalcoatlus: Teeth, neck length, head shape, posture, etc.. The head is bigger and has a large flat crest instead of a tiny notch at the back of the head. They also lack teeth and the neck is much, much, longer than the program's design. In a nutshell, the Walking With Dinosaurs Quetzalcoatlus looks more like a badly misshapen mutant and is widely regarded as one of the worst depictions of the animal in any modern reconstructions. ''Walking with Beasts New Dawn Whale Killer Land of Giants *Hyaenodon'' is said to have bone crushing jaws. In real life, they were for shearing rather than crushing. ''Next of Kin Sabre-Tooth Mammoth Journey *The Neanderthal was not the last survivor of the genus ''Homo, besides humans: the highly debated[[ Homo floresiensis|'' Homo'' floresiensis]] was. ''Walking with Cavemen *Some paleanthropologists believe the African ''H. heidelbergensis is merely an archaic form of modern humans. *Some paleanthropologists do not recognize H. ergaster and Homo erectus as separate species. Even if they were separate, some believe H. erectus did survive and evolved into the highly controversial Homo floresiensis. ''Walking with Monsters Water Dwellers *There is no evidence for ''Cephalaspis ''swimming into fresh water to lay eggs. *Brontoscorpio'' lived at a different time then Cephalaspis, one in the Silurian, the other in the Devonian. ''Reptile's Beginnings *In the series, ''Petrolacosaurus is incorrectly identified as an ancestral synapsid, when in fact, it was an early diapsid and could therefore not have been the ancestor of any synapsids (e.g. Edaphosaurus). Futhermore, it is stated that the Dimetrodon was a reptile, when in fact, it was a synaspid. Futhermore, the most basal synapsid, Archaeothyris, would have been a more suitable candidate. *The Dimetrodon ''hatchlings are shown with their back sails fully erect, when they probably wouldn't have grown yet. Clash of Titans *Diictodon, ''Gorgonopsid and the Labyrinthodont are only known from South Africa, yet in episode 3 they are portrayed living with Scutosaurus, which have only been found in Siberia, However, since the continents were all connected at the time it is conceivable that Gorgonops could have lived in Russia too, but there is no evidence for this. *''Euparkeria'' is not an ancestor of the dinosaurs, being basal to crocodile-bird split. ''Chased by Dinosaurs *Velociraptor'' may not have lived in heavily forested areas. All of the sites where Velociraptor fossils were found suggest that the animal lived in sandy, arid environments with many sand dunes (with one specimen apparently being smothered to death by a sand dune). *''Velociraptor lacks feathers. All Dromaeosaurids/Raptors had pennaceous feathers running from head to to to tail. It even had wings.'' *''Giganotosaurus'' was depicted on the show as the largest carnivorous dinosaur, though current size estimates favor Spinosaurus. *''Argentinosaurus'' is said to have been the biggest dinosaur. That record may actually belong to poorly known forms such as Amphicoelias fragilimus or Puertasaurus reuli. *''Velociraptor's '' claw could not disembowel prey. ''Sea Monsters *Leedsichthys'' is not as large as depicted in the series. Instead of 27 meters and 100 tons, the largest specimens suggest that 16.5 meters and ~25 tons was maximum size for this species. *''Tylosaurus'' is depicted as a "sixty foot giant" in Sea Monsters, but no mosasaur has been found over 49 feet in length (surprisingly the book states 49 feet). *''Cymbospondylus'' was not the largest ichthyosaurus, the whale-like Shonisaurus was. Category:Lists Category:Walking with Wikia Category:Walking with Dinosaurs Category:Chased by Dinosaurs Category:Sea Monsters Category:Walking with Beasts Category:Walking with Cavemen